Year two of the ball club in Allegheny City saw a lot of changes.

A majority of the team from the inaugural season did not return for 1883, meaning a revamped roster was forced to shoulder the hopes that this season could go better than the 39-39-1 record the inaugural team posted.

In addition to that, three different men took on the role of skipper for the Alleghenys this season, but that’s something we’ll dive more into later.

As if that wasn’t enough turnover, the Alleghenys had to find a new place to play.

Exposition Park, the team’s home during their inaugural season, was prone to flooding due to its close proximity to the river. A fire during the offseason further damaged the park, forcing a new ballpark to be built next door.

Despite the park’s flooding being a prevalent issue, the ingenious minds at the time actually built the new park closer to the river. These same creative visionaries also named the site Exposition Park II.

Elsewhere, the American Association had experienced some changes as well. They expanded from six teams to eight, with the New York Metropolitans and Columbus Buckeyes joining the league. Additionally, St. Louis dropped “Browns” from their name, going by just the city name in league standings. That decision would be reversed in 1884, when the team went back to the “Browns” name.

Meanwhile in Allegheny City, few familiar faces returned to the team for the new year. Among those who did return however were outfielder Ed Smartwood, catcher Billy Taylor, third baseman Joe Battin, and a few others.

I mention these three names specifically though because they played pivotal roles for the Alleghenys in 1883. Both Smartwood and Taylor converted positions to help shore up the defense for Allegheny City.

Smartwood would become a first baseman for the team, replacing Chappy Lane from 1882; Taylor moved from catching to an outfield slot, and also filled in as a pitcher. Battin, meanwhile, stayed at third base, but would eventually serve as a manager for the Alleghenys, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

They opened their season is dismal fashion, getting shutout 4-0 in the season opener and falling 8-1 in back to back losses to Philadelphia.

That theme continued when the team also hosted the New York Metropolitans, who took the first two of three to put Allegheny City in an 0-4 hole to start the season.

It appeared as though frustrations finally boiled over though, as the team finally got in the win column with an 18-3 rout of New York in their final game of that series. Unfortunately, that did not generate any long-term momentum. By the time the opening month of May was over, Allegheny City was 7-13 on the season.

To open June, the Alleghenys won a 10-9 thriller over Cincinnati, but dropped the series. The team did rally to win a series against Louisville though, which an important one to talk about. This series against the Eclipse marked the Alleghenys’ final series played at Exposition Park II.

A 3-1 loss on June 9th marked the final game played by the team in that ballpark, with the Alleghenys opting to return to their original home of Exposition Park I, now that the flooding and fire had been taken care of.

Perhaps they were feeling homesick, or maybe they believed returning home could help turn the season around. Either way, starting on June 12th, the team once again played in Exposition Park I.

It didn’t work.

After the move, Allegheny City had a seven-game series against Columbus, with the first three of those games coming at home. They lost all three, and only split the road trip in Columbus for a 2-5 series showing.

This road trip also saw the first managerial change in franchise history; Al Pratt had managed his last game, an 11-4 win, on June 20th before moving on.

To take his place, West Virginia native Ormond Butler took over, and he would take the brunt of the losses suffered by these 1883 Alleghenys. His first game in charge saw a 10-8 loss at the hands of the Buckeyes, and went 2-4 to finish the month of June.

Butler’s Alleghenys were swept by Louisville as the month changed and were swept by St. Louis in their first fully series in July.

Allegheny City finally broke the losing streak with an 11-4 win, but still lost a five-game series to the Philadelphia Athletics.

They then split a four-game home stand vs New York, and a four-game road trip to Baltimore, but ended the month being swept by Philly, with the final loss being a 19-2 beat down.

Heading into August, the Alleghenys were under water at 21-41 on the season. An eight-game losing streak turned things from bad to worse in a month that saw the team go 6-15.

To open September, the Alleghenys successfully took three of four against Cincinnati, which was only Ormond Butler’s second series win as manager. It was a good high note for Butler to have, because after the Alleghenys’ 12-4 win on September 6th, Butler was out as manager.

With the season almost wrapped up, third baseman Joe Battin stepped up and acted as manager to finish the 1883 season. The Alleghenys went 2-11 down the stretch with Battin in the makeshift role of manager, and the team ended their year with a record of 31-67, a full 35.0 games back.

They finished seventh in the American Association, only surpassing the 28-68

The team, as a whole, was awful, but that overshadows some standout batting performances.

First baseman Ed Smartwood held a team-leading .357 batting average and 24 doubles, and was tied for the team lead in home runs, with 3. He also had a good eye at the plate, being tied for the team lead in walks at 25.

Smartwood held a lot of these ties with Mike Mansell, also a member of last year’s Alleghenys. Mansell was the team’s power bat, notching 13 triples and 3 homers, as well as 25 walks.

Billy Taylor was an extremely early two-way player, playing the outfield in 83 games and appearing on the mound in 19 games. Taylor batted .260 from the plate and tossed to a 5.39 ERA on the mound. This season sparked the career turnaround for Taylor; he became a full-time pitcher in the major leagues after his 1883 experience with the Alleghenys.

Pitching was the main struggle for this Allegheny City roster. Denny Driscoll had the best stat line out of the bunch, going 18-21 with a 3.99 ERA over 336.1 innings pitched.

The second lowest ERA belonged to Edward Nolan, who might be better known as The Only Nolan. A quirky pitcher who utilized an underhanded throw and a lot of curveballs, Nolan earned the name

His nickname’s origin is crowded in speculation, but the most plausable theory is from his old team, the Indianapolis Blues. Both he and the team rose to prominence when the team only officially named him as The Only Nolan, a name that stuck with him the rest of his career, including his time with the Alleghenys.

Nolan had a little bit of a problem with authority, however. He had been suspended numerous times in his baseball career, including an incident while with Indianapolis in 1878 where he told the team he was going to a funeral, but instead went to go drinking.

He was expelled by the team as a result, and his application to be reinstated into the league was denied.

Nolan also had an incident on September 20th, 1881 (after being reinstated into the NL) that saw he and teammate Jim McCormick miss their team’s game. The two had taken a side trip to New York City and their trip to Worcester was delayed by a train wreck. They were each fined $100.

He was also accused earlier in his career of fixing games, which tarnished his reputation in Indianapolis, despite him eventually being cleared of the charges.

After the 1881 season, NL owners held a meeting and established a blacklist of players that were no longer allowed to play in the league unless the owners unanimously voted to reinstate them. Nolan found himself on that ten-player list that also included Buttercup Dickerson, who was Nolan’s teammate in Allegheny City in 1883.

Nolan pitched just seven games for the Alleghenys, going 0-7 with a 4.25 ERA before he was released for disciplinary reasons. It was never reported what Nolan had done to be released, but given his checkered past, a lot could be speculated as to why.

The story of Nolan’s life and career is deserving of more reading, and I found this terrific piece on him from John Thorn for those interested.

After the season, the Alleghenys released 20-year old Norm Baker in November. Baker pitched sparingly for the team, appearing in 19.0 innings and recorded a 3.32 ERA.

The team also sold pitcher Bob Barr in February of the following year, netting $100 from the Washington Nationals, who were an expansion team into the American Association in 1884 and folded a year later.

Despite the disappointment this year was for the Alleghenys, it would only continue to get worse the following year.

Here’s a full look at the 1883 Alleghenys roster: